Political Reporters Love 'Pork Chop On A Stick' At Iowa State Fair

Members of the press covering the GOP debate in Iowa on Thursday were enamored of one thing: pork chop on a stick.

Romanesko reports that the pork chop on a stick was one of most tweeted-about foods among political reporters at the fair. CBS' Norah O'Donnell, Washington Post’s Aaron Blake, Daily Caller’s Alex Pappas, the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Tom Fitzgerald, the Chicago Tribune's James Oliphant and NBC News' Jo Ling Kent and Andrew Rafferty were among the reporters who gave the treat a nod.

NPR’s Don Gonyea professed his newfound love for pork chops on a stick, calling it "the best meal I've had on the road in two years in all the time I've followed candidates around." He described, "I assume it's broiled. It's trimmed. There's no bone. You pay $6 and they hand this thing to you. I have gone to very nice restaurants and ordered the chop and it wasn't as good as this." He said that he planned "to get another pork chop on a stick for another $6 and put it in my bag" for his post-debate dinner.

Even Gwen Ifill set the scene of her National Journal piece about the GOP debate with "About halfway through my grilled pork chop on a stick at the State Fair..."

Caroline Horn, senior producer for politics at CBS News, tweeted this photo of Norah O'Donnell, the network's chief White House correspondent, speaking to Jon Huntsman with a pork chop on a stick in hand.

PHOTO:

The pork chop on a stick was also popular with GOP candidates Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman Jr. The New York Times reported that it's tradition for politicians to help grill the pork on a stick. The food seemed to outshine the fair's other delicacies, which include fried butter on a stick, fried ice cream on a stick, peanut butter and jelly on a stick and fried cheesecake on a stick.

Comments

[whizkid]

11:59 PM on 08/16/2011

I thought it would be those corndogs
the Bachmann's have been seen fellating.

[Gmoney1]

07:15 PM on 08/16/2011

I know christie wish he was there - ummm pork chop on a stick -

[oldgraymare]

01:31 PM on 08/17/2011

Honey, Christie IS a porkchop on a stick!!! Haven't you noticed he's got a tree trunk up his pootsis.....evidenced by his snarly reply to that poor constituent who questioned him about his choice of schools for his girls.

[LeeCalif]

05:37 PM on 08/16/2011

Mmmmmmmm .

[coblstone]

04:52 PM on 08/16/2011

pork-a-rations is (for) people too!

[ShanaJuly]

04:10 PM on 08/16/2011

Maybe the reporters liked it but clearly Mitt is having some difficulty dealing with it and masking his disbelief that people eat this crap all at the same time...

[PrairieDog]

01:59 AM on 08/17/2011

pork jowls!!

[Huzie]

03:43 PM on 08/16/2011

Is there anything in the Midwest that they won't deep fry and serve on a stick?

[CocaColaKid]

07:12 AM on 08/17/2011

Makes you wonder if they put the Turkey on a baseball bat and pass it around at Thanksgiving.

[Ayla McIntosh]

12:22 PM on 08/16/2011

Mmmmmmm...fair food....mmmmmmm

[NYnotLiberal]

11:38 AM on 08/16/2011

Man.....it's getting close to lunch time.....this sounds good.

[ebanks84]

11:32 AM on 08/16/2011

I don't see how they could eat some of that stuff without having a heart attack. Fried butter? Gee whiz charlie brown, and to think it taste like french toast! I'll take your word for it guys. I don't ever want to find out for sure!

[fishnetdiver]

04:36 AM on 08/16/2011

What is it with Pols and pork?

[jsarets]

11:51 PM on 08/15/2011

But really now, what politician doesn't enjoy a nice helping of pork? I don't think there's any food item more symbolic of American politics than pork on a stick. It's a perfect gastro-political metaphor.

I think I overheard Ron Paul tell the vendor that he can't vote for his pork on a stick, but he'll attach it as an amendment to a bill that will pass the House anyway.

[jukesgrrl]

11:18 PM on 08/15/2011

I saw cheesecake on a stick today (dipped in dark chocolate no less). No, I refrained.

[fishnetdiver]

04:38 AM on 08/16/2011

nom NOM!
There's a fastfood chain called Taco Bueno (actually really good!) that has 'Cheesecake Chimichangas'...bitesized blobs of cheescake deepfried! soooooo good!

[Tim Moore]

10:04 PM on 08/15/2011

Mittens is thinking, "Oh, dear.. oh, oh, dear.. this meat is ghastly.. memo to self... have cooks prepare Coq' Au Vin and cucumber salad tonite... heavens, I need a kerchief to hide this pork flesh whilst I excuse myself..."

[ultrabop]

09:09 PM on 08/15/2011

Mitt is now proving that he eats like a common man.

[Freedom Rush]

08:30 PM on 08/15/2011

the best fair food i ever had was at the LA County fair about 40 years ago, in Pomona CA. it was a big battered and fried zucchini on a stick. i ate six of them and got sick as a dog cause I didn't know about my gluten problem back then. i don't know what they did to that zucchini to make it so good, but i still remember it to this day. it was amazing!